


A Tuesti roast

by Xenobia



Series: Ashen Skies [5]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 14:11:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenobia/pseuds/Xenobia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reeve says goodbye to Chaos in a most interesing way. This takes place after Ashen Skies, and it was written as a birthday gift for my friend Pocko.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tuesti roast

"The Tuesti Roast"

A Final Fantasy 7 "Ashen Skies" gift ficlet

 

**_Author's note:_ ** _Written for my friend Pocko as a belated birthday present.  She loves Reeve/Vincent/Chaos._

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all characters therein belong to Square-Enix.  I make no profit from the writing of this fanfiction and it is for entertainment purposes, only.**

* * *

 

He was tied to something.  he couldn't move his arms or legs, and he was slowly being turned; rotated over the flickering flames of what appeared to be a barbeque fire.  The heat licked at his skin and clothing, and he could smell the later beginning to smolder.  His first thought was to wonder what in the hell he was doing roasting over an open fire.  His second was to question who in the world would tie him to a stick and do this.  The thought that none of this should be possible entered his mind, but the heat was getting more than a little uncomfortable, and he could smell burning hair, now.

 

"What the hell?" he coughed, craning his neck to look around.  Through the smoke, he saw a pallid, coldly smiling face looking back at him.  "Chaos...what are you doing?"

 

"I'm roasting a marshmallow, human."  Chaos looked mildly amused.  "What else would I be doing?  I like my souls crunchy on the outside, and warm and gooey on the inside.  Yours will be perfect, if I roast it just right.  Stop wriggling and enjoy it."

 

"Okay, this is fucked up, even for my imagination," complained Reeve.  He struggled more with his bonds.  "let me down, Chaos.  This is more than a little uncomfortable."

 

"I'll release you once you're cooked," promised the demon.  "Now stop talking.  You're ruining my appetite." 

 

Reeve started to catch on fire, and he yelled in pain.  "If you keep doing this, I'm going to die!  You won't be able to feed on me anymore!" 

 

"But what a delightful treat you'll make, when you're finished," announced Chaos.  "Don't worry, engineer.  You'll keep me well fed for some time.  I am, after all, departing this world soon."

 

"Wh-what?"  Reeve clenched his jaw against the pain as his skin began to burn, but it oddly didn't hurt, much.  "What did you say about departing...ah...cut it out!"

 

"I like you well-roasted," murmured Chaos, steadily rotating him over the fire.  "You'll be sufficiently cooked, soon."

 

"Vincent," coughed Reeve, his lungs filling with smoke, "wake up!  Put a stop to this, would you?" 

 

His vision was filled with billowing, stinging black smoke, and he felt his eyes starting to melt into gooey jelly.  Vincent couldn't save him now, even if he awoke and pushed aside Chaos' influence.

 

* * *

 

"Blarg!" 

 

The shout scared Vincent witless, rudely awakening him from deep slumber.  He sat bolt-upright and he stared at his lover, startled and confused.  Reeve's deep brown eyes were wide and staring, and he was panting and sweating like he'd just run a marathon.

 

"Reeve," murmured Vincent, waiting a moment for the engineer's flailing to settle.  He reached out cautiously when the risk of being stricken blind by a wayward, poking finger lessened.  His hand settled on the bearded man's left shoulder gently, and he spoke his name again. 

 

"Reeve, you're safe.  Stop this."

 

Reeve began patting himself down frantically.  "I'm burning!  I'm...oh...wait."  He stopped and blinked down at his body.  "Maybe not."

 

Confused—but used to his partners' strange behavior at times by now—Vincent scooted a little closer to him.  He stroked Reeve's rich brown hair and he held his gaze.  "Calm down.  Tell me what's the matter?"

 

Reeve took a shuddering breath, and he looked at Vincent in a way that had the gunman feeling rather self-conscious.  "I...I'm sorry.  I had a nightmare."

 

"So I gathered," answered Vincent.  "It isn't like you to suddenly wake up and flail around like that for no reason."

 

Reeve smirked at him.  "You probably wouldn't sleep next to me each night, if it was."

 

Vincent looked around at the small bedroom.  He and Reeve had been in Kalm for a year now, trying to adjust to necessary changes like the rest of the world.  The little cottage they shared together was just big enough for the two of them, and the narrow bed gave them a good excuse to snuggle.

 

"I imagine if you had these fits each night, I'd be forced to seek rest on the couch," agreed the gunman.  He brushed aside a midnight-dark lock of hair that had fallen over his eye, and he drew Reeve into his hesitant embrace.  "Will you talk about it, or would you rather just go back to sleep?

 

Reeve allowed him to draw him closer, and he sighed.  He nuzzled Vincent's temple and he took a moment to gather his thoughts, before answering him.  "I dreamt I was a s'more."

 

Vincent frowned, turning his head toward him.  "I...see.  Well, it was only a nightmare, and you're safe."

 

"Right," agreed the engineer.  He laid down again, urging Vincent to join him.  "Only a dream," he yawned against the gunman's pale neck.  He kissed the spot and he hugged him.  "Sorry about that."

 

"It's all right," assured Vincent.  He put an arm around Reeve, smiling faintly.  "Goodnight, Reeve."

 

"Mmm, night."  Reeve squeezed him back.

 

Driven by curiosity, Vincent frowned in the moonlit darkness.  "Reeve?"

 

"Hmm?"

 

"What is a s'more?"

 

The engineer stirred, lifting his head off the pillow to gaze at him blearily.  "You're kidding, right?"

 

"No."  Vincent shook his head.  "What is it?"

 

Reeve chuckled.  "Damn, you really did live in the dark ages.  Well, a s'more is like a kind of sandwich you make with crackers, chocolate and marshmallows."

 

"It sounds...interesting."  Vincent wasn't usually one for sweets, but Reeve seemed enthused about it.

 

"That does it," Reeve decided sleepily.  "Tomorrow night, we'll have a little roast in the house and I'll show you how to make s'mores.  No man should go through life without tasting one."

 

A rare chuckle rose in Vincent's throat.  "You make it sound like sacrilege."

 

"Oh, it is," assured Reeve.  "No child should grow up without knowing the rich, gooey goodness of a s'more sandwich.  You'll see."

 

"I'll take your word for it," Vincent remarked dryly.  He closed his eyes and sighed.  "I hope you've gotten all of the flailing out of your system."

 

"Of course," yawned Reeve, and he mumbled something that dissolved into a soft snore.

 

* * *

 

The next evening, Reeve set up the wood burning stove for his idea.  He tried to forget his strange and disturbing nightmare as he got the sweet honey crackers lined up on the tray.  While Vincent watched, Reeve sandwiched little blocks of chocolate between crackers and marshmallows.  He clamped them down with the old toasting utilities he'd found when they moved in, and he offered one to Vincent.

 

"There.  It's not exactly a campfire, but it will do.  Just hold that over the fire and turn it now and then.  Don't let it get so hot that the chocolate starts dripping."

 

"I understand."  Vincent took the offered toaster, and he held it over the stove.  Reeve paused in the act of putting his own s'more together, and he watched Vincent.  Seeing him slowly turning his treat over the heat of the oven made him recollect the nightmare from the evening before, and he grimaced.  Chaos looked so much like Vincent in the face.  If the hair were spiked instead of falling softly around the gunman's shoulders...if the cloak at his back were wings, and if he were a couple of feet taller, he might have looked like Chaos in the dream.

 

"Reeve, aren't you going to roast one for yourself?"

 

Shaking himself out of it, Reeve finished preparing his s'more and he joined him.  "Of course.  Sorry about that.  I was just thinking of the nightmare I had last evening."

 

"You never explained to me what you meant about dreaming that you were one of these."  Vincent turned his s'more over and glanced sidelong at him.

 

Reeve shrugged, flushing a little beneath his trimmed beard.  "It wasn't important.  I just...I dreamed that Chaos.."

 

"Reeve..."  Vincent's voice was tense, and he pulled his hearth toaster away from the fire.  Still holding onto the utensil, he backed up against the wall and he covered his face with one hand.

 

"Vincent?"  Reeve stopped what he was doing, and he watched his companion with worry.  "Are you okay?"

 

Vincent shook his head, his golden claw splaying over his forehead beneath the hanging locks of black hair over his brow.  "He's..."

 

Vincent didn't even get to finish his sentence, before he grew taller before Reeve's eyes and began to sprout red on black bat wings.  Familiar by now with this transformation, Reeve backed up and he hastily took Vincent's toaster from him, grimacing as his lover grew in size and height. 

 

"Um...watch your head," warned the engineer as Chaos made his unexpected appearance.  Vincent's hair stiffened and formed red and black spikes as he watched, and the crimson shade of his eyes changed to a glowing amber color.

 

Chaos ducked as he completed the transition, managing to avoid cramming his head-spikes into the supporting ceiling beams overhead.  He closed his eyes for a moment, and he slowly stretched his wings.  Reeve hastily reached out and grabbed the overhanging pot rack as the demon's wing knocked it askew, preventing the cooking utensils from falling.

 

He then proceeded to say the stupidest thing he'd ever said to date.  "There's Chaos in my kitchen."

 

The towering demon opened his eyes slowly, and his large, golden irises fixated on the rather small, bearded man standing before him.  "Hello, engineer."

 

"Hi," greeted Reeve, heart pounding in his temples.  He held up Vincent's forgotten, roasted treat and he smiled nervously.  "S'more?"

 

* * *

 

Chaos looked at the strange, half-burned sandwich of human foodstuffs.  He took it in one clawed hand, raising a brow as he held it up to examine it.  "And what is this... _thing_...I hold before me?"

 

Reeve cleared his throat.  "It's a s'more."

 

The demon tilted his head inquisitively.

 

"Try it," urged Reeve, collecting his own from the end of his cooking utensil.  "You'll like it.  It's good.  Kind of like my soul, but roasted."

 

Chaos smirked.  "I don't eat human food."

 

"But you can, can't you?"  Reeve took a bite of his treat, covertly stepping back.  "Go ahead.  Try it."

 

"I don't take orders from mortals."

 

Reeve sighed.  "I'm not ordering, I'm _offering_.  Please, try a bite.  I'm interested in your opinion."

 

Chaos regarded him thoughtfully, before pulling the item off its utensil to hold it between his fingers.  He glanced at Reeve—who was basically pigging out on his own s'more as though it were the last meal he'd ever eat.  The demon examined his treat and he squeezed it curiously, watching the marshmallow in the center bulge out.  With a shrug, he brought it to his lips and took a delicate bite of it.  While capable of eating and drinking mortal food, Chaos was unpracticed with it.  He chewed awkwardly, disliking the crunch of the cracker and the way the sweet parts clung to his teeth.

 

"Well, what do you think?"  Reeve watched him with wary expectation, having finished his own strange sandwich. 

 

Chaos put the item down on the counter, and he licked his fingers like a cat bathing itself after a feed.  "It's too messy.  All mortal food is.  My method of dining is much more dignified."

 

Reeve visibly swallowed, and he loosened the collar of his black shirt.  "Yes, I suppose it is.  Still, you can't deny the appeal of marshmallows and chocolate on a hot cracker."

 

Sensing some unusual disquiet in the engineer, Chaos smiled and stepped closer.  Reeve backed up against the wall, and Chaos arched his wings out and forward to embrace him, while his hands stole around his waist. 

 

"I haven't fed for some time," reminded the demon in a husky murmur.  "Is there something about these...'s'mores' that troubles you, mortal?"

 

"Oh, not much," answered Reeve in that amusingly nonchalant tone he tended to adopt in Chaos' presence.  "So...hungry, are you?  I guess I can handle that."

 

Chaos pressed his body against Reeve's, and the human winced as the body armor dug into his skin.  "Yes.  I haven't dined on your spirit energy for some time now, Reeve."

 

Hearing his name on his lips seemed to ease Reeve's tension, and he gripped Chaos' shoulder as the demon began to kiss his neck and jaw.  "Well...everyone has to eat.  Should I pour some salt on first, or are you happy to just dine and go?"

 

Chaos chuckled.  "Ever droll, even when facing me.  Actually, I had something else in mind for tonight."  He let his clawed hand slide over Reeve's shirt, pulling it open further in the process and baring more of his chest.  He took a moment to pinch the engineer's right nipple, drawing a hiss from him that might have been from pleasure or pain.

 

"I would have you service me in other ways, besides spiritual sustenance."  His voice was a hot murmur against Reeve's jaw as he spoke into the human's ear.  He pulled Reeve's shirt open, and buttons popped off to scatter noisily on the tiled floor of the kitchen.

 

"W-wait," stammered the engineer, "Just a second, okay?  buttons aren't that easy to come by these days.  Let me just—"

 

Chaos stopped his fiddling hands before they could interrupt his actions.  He grabbed both of Reeve's wrists and he pinned them over his head on the wall, holding them there with one hand.  "Be still," he commanded.  "I want to savor you, one last time."

 

Reeve stared at him, relaxing unconsciously in his hold.  "What does that mean, exactly?"

 

"It means that I've decided to withdraw from this plane," answered Chaos.  He traced Reeve's handsome face with one golden-clawed finger.  "My purpose has been expended, and I have no reason to linger.  The host will live forever if he is not killed, and even if he is, I can return in another form if necessary."

 

"You're leaving?"  Reeve frowned, betraying disappointment.  "Okay, I know I'm not the most supportive lunchbox, but have you really thought this through?"

 

"I have," assured Chaos evenly.  "In truth, you are the only reason I have to remain here, now.  You won't last forever."

 

The reminder of his mortality didn't seem to trouble Reeve at all.  If anything, he acted more distress over the prospect of Chaos leaving. "Now, just hold on a minute," he objected.  "There's still a lot you could do here."

 

"Such as?"  Chaos traced the mortal's jaw with his tongue, smiling a little.

 

"Er...killing people?  I mean the ones that deserve it."

 

Chaos pulled back and regarded him with faint amusement.  "So you wish for me to stay on this plane for the purpose of punishing criminals?"

 

"No," sputtered Reeve.  "When you say it like that, it sounds stupid.  I just mean there's still plenty you could do here."

 

"Ah, you mean 'good' things," reasoned Chaos.  He tightened his hold on the human's crossed wrists, and he licked Reeve's parted lips briefly before speaking again.  "I thought we established that I don't exist for the 'good' of humanity, engineer."

 

"Well, that depends on how you look at it," answered Reeve breathlessly.  "You exist to help gather souls for the Lifestream, to preserve spiritual energy, right?  That's for the good of humanity, if you think about it."

 

"You're reaching," answered Chaos.  "That purpose is intended to preserve the balance of creation.  Your kind mean no more to me than the bugs you so casually step on, from day to day.  The only difference is that you're more complex creatures, faintly amusing to listen to."

 

"So I guess that means no roses for me," sighed Reeve.  "You know, I personally wouldn't eat roaches, but you seem to find them tasty.  You're always comparing humans to them."

 

Chaos scowled.  "It's a comparison of significance, not nature."

 

"Oh, sure."  Reeve tried to shrug, but the gesture lacked potency, thanks to the iron grip on his wrists.  "But you've got to admit, you might as well eat bugs, for all the respect you show people.  You know, some humans have a practice of _thanking_ their prey when they take them down.  It's considered a sacred act to show appreciation for the animal you and your family will consume.  Ask anyone in Cosmo Canyon, if you don't believe me."

 

"You're babbling."  Chaos rubbed his cheek against Reeve's, and he pressed a thigh between his legs.  "Could it be that you might miss me when I go, mortal?"

 

"Or I could miss your back-scratching skills," quipped Reeve in an impressively even voice.  "Those claws reach places my shower brush just can't get to."

 

Chaos sighed, lowering his gaze.  "You insist on this foolishness each time we meet.  Why is that?  Other humans tremble in fear before me, yet you make jests."

 

"I always had more curiosity than good sense," excused Reeve, staring up at the demon from beneath disheveled brown locks.  "My mother always warned me it would put me in my grave."

 

"Not tonight," promised Chaos.  He cupped Reeve's chin with his free hand, and he lowered his mouth to his.  "You won't be carrion meat...unless you anger me.  Do you think you can refrain from your stupidity for long enough to please me?"

 

"That depends on whether I'll live through it," Reeve said candidly.  "If you plan on draining me dry or killing me, I might as well be as obnoxious as I can possibly be."

 

Chaos made a low growl of annoyance in his throat, and he crushed his mouth against Reeve's in a punishing kiss, just to shut him up.  He thrust his tongue between the human's parted lips, aggressively seeking out the moist interior of his mouth.  Reeve's captured hands clenched into fists over his head and he made a muffled sound of lust.  Chaos could feel the evidence of his excited consent pressing against his leg.  Forgetting about the points in his body armor, he ground himself against Reeve.  The pained sound he got in response reminded him of how fragile human bodies were, and he backed off a bit.

 

"I wish to taste you," he announced huskily against the mortal's gasping lips.  He pulled his shirt open further with his free hand, and he ignored Reeve's protests as more buttons flew away in various places.  Still holding him still against the wall with one hand, Chaos licked his way down his throat, hunching over.  His left wing knocked something over, but he hardly cared.  He circled Reeve's right nipple with the tip of his tongue, making it go taut.  He flicked the tip of it over the tightened nub, making Reeve's breath catch.

 

Now that the engineer's shirt was hanging wide open, Chaos began to make his way down to the denim pants.  He was used to seeing Reeve dressed in more formal clothing.  Finding him in a button-up shirt and jeans was a pleasant surprise.  He slid his golden claws over fragile human flesh, tracing a pink line with his fingertip from collar to pelvic bone.  He looked down at the appealing "v", of the human's hip bones, partially concealed beneath Reeve's pants.  He popped the button open at the top, and he caught hold of the tab of his zipper.

 

Kissing Reeve aggressively on the mouth, Chaos pulled his fly down.  He followed up by tugging the pants open, exposing Reeve's pubic area and the top of his erection.  Chaos stopped kissing him to look him in the eye.

 

"You seem rather excited," he observed softly, huskily.  He traced a sharp, golden claw around the tender slit at the head of the engineer's cock, and Reeve jumped a little when he lightly pressed the tip of one claw against the sensitive little hole there. 

 

"Well," gasped Reeve, "we men tend to get that way when people fool around with our johnsons."

 

Chaos chuckled, his tone darkly amused.  "Never one to admit your own helplessness against me, are you?"  He squeezed the flushed head of Reeve's erection, before teasing the slit again with his claw.

 

"Fuck...shit," blurted the engineer, trembling.  "Okay, fine...I'm helpless against your touch.  I tremble at the though of your mouth against mine.  That's how they say it in the romance books, right?  Does that satisfy you?"

 

Chaos squeezed the trapped wrists he still held, and he gripped the base of Reeve's cock.  "Your sarcasm isn't asked for.  Tell me how I make you feel, mortal."

 

Reeve sucked in a sharp breath as the sharp point of Chaos' golden claw traced the underside of the head of his cock.  "You make me feel like I want to come all over the place, but if I do, I might lose my dick."

 

The engineer squirmed in Chaos' hold.  "Your turn, now?  Why don't you tell me why you want to hang around long enough to torture me, like this?"

 

"Because you're fun to torture," answered the demon with a smirk.  He curled his fingers around the shaft of Reeve's arousal, and he gave it a stroke.  "I enjoy the sounds you make, and the way your pleasure flavors your spiritual energy.  Cry out for me, engineer."

 

Reeve's hips bucked of their own accord, pushing his erection into his captor's gripping hand.  "Sure," he panted.  "What do you want me to say?"

 

"Speak my name," answered Chaos.  He licked Reeve's collarbone, throat and jaw.  "I wish to hear it screamed with passion, one last time.  Cry out, Reeve." 

 

"I think you need to torture me a little more, before that happens."  Reeve's voice was remarkably steady beneath the assault of pleasure, but his body was tense and shaking.

 

Entertained by his reaction, Chaos met Reeve's gasping mouth with his own and he kissed him hard.  He curled his tongue against the human's, and he deliberately pressed his swollen crotch against Reeve's leg while he fondled him.  The urge to feed was strong, but he refused to rush it.  This would be his last time to sample this strange, brilliant creature, and he intended to make the moment last for as long as possible. 

 

"You are being most...uncooperative," observed Chaos softly.  He bit down on Reeve's bottom lip, not quite hard enough to draw blood, but enough to draw a groan and a twitch from him.  "Shall I drink from you deeply now, or do so slowly?  I understand that ambrosia tastes bests when sampled with care."

 

Reeve gasped as the demon's clawed hand gave his erection a squeeze.  "Does my opinion even matter?"

 

Chaos smirked at him.  "Perhaps.  Speak it, and we'll see."

 

Reeve's face was lightly flushed with passion, his dark eyes irrational with lust.  He pushed into Chaos' stroking hand insistently.  "Then drink me dry, damn you."

 

"Oh, don't tempt me.  I considered doing just that, my brave, foolish mortal."

 

Chaos didn't give the human a chance to answer the threat.  He kissed him again, cutting off any comment he might have made.  He began to feel the ultimate bliss of soul consumption as he drank deeply, and his wings compulsively began to fan the air.  Something else got knocked over, but he hardly cared.  He felt the bones of Reeve's wrists grind together as he tightened his hold on them, and he eased up.  He'd made a decision and he intended to keep it. 

 

Yes...it was ambrosia.  Reeve's spirit energy flowed into him, drowning out everything around him as he drank it.  He stroked the swollen flesh in his grasp faster, reveling in the muffled moans and hitching gasps he was invoking.  Humans were so fragile, so driven by baser urges.  While coupling with Reeve was a delight, Chaos enjoyed drinking from him and making him lose all sense of composure, most of all.  Reeve started to thrust blindly into his pumping hand, making masculine sounds of delight as he surrendered his soul to him. 

 

Chaos honestly could have kept going all night long, but spiritual energy was sadly finite.  Like the spunk that pulsed over his hand and arm when Reeve's pleasure reached its peak, the spirit energy began to slow to a trickle.  Ordinarily, Chaos wouldn't have cared whether a feeing recipient lived or not after he finished with him.  With Reeve it was different.  He couldn't justify it to himself, so he enjoyed one last, lingering kiss before pulling away and expressing himself bluntly.

 

"I've often dreamed of leaving you an empty shell...Reeve."

 

Still panting from his climax and weakened from being fed on, Reeve leaned back against the wall.  He looked unfairly attractive that way, with his shirt hanging open and his softening cock exposed.  A lock of dark hair fell over his brow as he spoke, and Chaos stared at it, fighting the impulse to reach out and smooth it back into place.

 

"So you're saying I'm still resistible, on some level," reasoned the mortal.

 

Chaos blinked at him.  "Have you _no_ sense of self-preservation at all, engineer?"

 

Reeve smiled.  "I guess not.  Maybe I just don't want you to leave."

 

Chaos closed the distance between them again, and he cupped Reeve's jaw with his unadorned hand.  "I've never met a mortal who flirted with death as much as you do, engineer."

 

"So does that mean you're staying?"  Reeve gave him a tired, sexy little smile, and for a brief moment, Chaos actually weakened. 

 

"Regrettably not," answered the demon at length.  "As I said before; my task is done.  As delightful as you taste, it isn't enough incentive to keep me here.  Perhaps one day I'll return, but I doubt it will be in your lifetime."

 

Reeve's brows furrowed, and he lowered his gaze.  "Wow...that...kind of sucks.  Maybe I'm channeling Zack when I say that, but part of me hoped I could convince you to stay."

 

Chaos tilted his head, watching him as Reeve tucked his junk back into his pants and zipped up.  "Why?"

 

Reeve looked up at him, a hint of uncertainty flickering over his face.  "I don't think any answer I could give you right now would make any damned sense, Chaos.  I guess the simple truth is...I'd miss you."

 

The sentiment was confusing, yet Chaos felt some affection for this eccentric man, as well.  He reached out to touch him, sifting his clawed fingertips through his hair.  "You will be immortalized in ways that most humans can't fathom.  I will remember you forever.  You've poisoned me."

 

Reeve chuckled, his voice tight.  "That's a peculiar way to look at it.  Can't you just think of it as being enlightened, rather than poisoned?"

 

Chaos offered a brief smile.  "It wouldn't suit our relationship to describe it in such terms."

 

Reeve sighed, and he stuck his hands into his pockets.  He leaned back against the wall, and he watched Chaos with somber respect.  "I can't change your mind, can I?"

 

Chaos shook his head.  "Regrettably not.  You should be happy.  I won't drain you further."

 

Reeve looked away, his jaw tightening visibly.  "Yeah, happy.  I'll try to remember that."

 

Deciding that lingering for even one moment longer might break his resolve, Chaos relinquished control of the body he was inhabiting, giving Vincent total control of it—as much as he was capable of doing.  There were still three other demons to occupy the gunman's attention, but that was no longer Chaos' concern.

 

* * *

 

Vincent came back to awareness with a shock, collapsing before his disheveled lover with wide eyes.  Reeve quickly embraced him as he went to his knees, supporting him. "Are you okay?" asked the engineer.

 

"He's...gone."  Vincent could feel the difference.  It was like part of the darkness inside of him suddenly withdrew, leaving a strangely hollow feeling.  "Chaos...is gone."

 

Reeve lowered his gaze.  "I know."

 

Vincent looked at him, and he knew mourning when he saw it.  "You wish he hadn't left."

 

The engineer raised his eyes to meet Vincent's, and he hesitated.  "Vincent, I really don't know how to explain this to you clearly.  Every part of you, I've learned to love.  That includes _all_ of your demons.  I had to, if I wanted to love you honestly.  They came with the package.  I understand that this frees you from some of your baggage, but..."  He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair, at a loss for words.

 

"I understand, Reeve," answered Vincent softly.  "Well, perhaps not completely, but you've been in a feeding bond with him for some time, now."

 

The gunman reached out to hesitantly lay his golden claw on Reeve's shoulder.  "I appreciate you staying with me, despite my...issues."

 

"Don't mention it," insisted Reeve, laying a hand over the cool metallic gauntlet on his shoulder.  "And don't be jealous of Chaos.  It was always you, Vincent."

 

The pallid cheeks colored slightly, and Vincent looked away.  "I...know.  Well, where is this 'sm'ore' concoction you wanted me to try?"

 

Reeve grimaced.  "Chaos ate it."

 

Vincent's crimson eyes flashed briefly, before he sighed.  "Of course he did.  Bastard."

 

* * *

-The End


End file.
